The Off Topic Topic

[derspiess]

How the hell is that a 3/4 of a billion dollar building?

Apparently the wavy roof was rather problematic.

But it looks like the ocean.  So-- worth every pfennig.

[derspiess]

Our music hall is being renovated for $135 mil, which is probably worth it to save a cool looking building.  Plus it's apparently "very haunted" due to having been built over a paupers cemetery. 

[Valmy]

Over-indulgent and expensive post-modern architecture. What would

How the hell is that a 3/4 of a billion dollar building?

Apparently the wavy roof was rather problematic.

But it looks like the ocean.  So-- worth every pfennig.

Over-indulgent and expensive post-modern architecture. What would Walter Gropius say?

The intimacy of the performance space is kind of weird. So few seats and a theatre in the round set up? Huh.

[Pedrito]

I'm really, really annoyed by the "black guy of Whatsapp" meme.

L.

[Valmy]

Our music hall is being renovated for $135 mil, which is probably worth it to save a cool looking building.  Plus it's apparently "very haunted" due to having been built over a paupers cemetery. 

I am glad we are finally bringing fine arts to the poor.

[derspiess]

Our music hall is being renovated for $135 mil, which is probably worth it to save a cool looking building.  Plus it's apparently "very haunted" due to having been built over a paupers cemetery. 

I am glad we are finally bringing fine arts to the poor.

Been doing it since 1878!  Apparently back then when they were excavating the land to build the music hall, they had trouble stopping the yokels from going in and stealing the bones from the dug-up pauper graves.  Then for months you saw kids using femurs as baseball bats, constructing jovial skeletons, etc. 

[celedhring]

Not a big fan of its bulky exterior. Reminds me of a broken tooth. The inside of the concert hall itself looks nice. Yesterday's inaugural concert had 2,100 attending, I think. I generally prefer more traditional (think 19th century) concert halls, though.
[/quote]

What would be the point of building a XIXth century concert hall in 2017, though? Might as well do something modern. Doesn't mean you have to spend 750m on it though...

[Habbaku]

Or when they scrapped retroactively the incentive subsidies for solar energy, leading to Spain having less solar energy production than Germany or the UK, while being exponentially sunnier than both.

A retroactive removal of subsidies?  Does that mean they went after those who they had previously provided subsidies to and asked them to pay it back?

Is that even legal?

[The Larch]

Or when they scrapped retroactively the incentive subsidies for solar energy, leading to Spain having less solar energy production than Germany or the UK, while being exponentially sunnier than both.

A retroactive removal of subsidies?  Does that mean they went after those who they had previously provided subsidies to and asked them to pay it back?

Is that even legal?

I believe they just didn't pay past owed subsidies. And yes, it's very questionable legally, in fact several investors have been looking into suing Spain in international courts because of that.

It was a terribly stupid and shortsighted decision just to make a quick buck by erasing debts on the books, it basically killed the PV sector in Spain, which is a leader in many other renewable energies.

Here's what's in Wiki about it:

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the Spanish government drastically cut its subsidies for solar power and capped future increases in capacity at 500 MW per year, with effects upon the industry worldwide. "The solar industry in 2009 has been undermined by [a] collapse in demand due to the decision by Spain", according to Henning Wicht, a solar-power analyst. In 2010, the Spanish government went further, retroactively cutting subsidies for existing solar projects, aiming to save several billion euro it owed. According to the Photovoltaic Industry Association, several hundred photovoltaic plant operators may face bankruptcy. Phil Dominy of Ernst & Young, comparing the feed-in tariff reductions in Germany and Italy, said; "Spain stands out as an example of how not to do it". As a result, a Spanish association of solar power producers has announced its intention to go to court over the government's plans to cap solar subsidies. In 2014 alternative energy group NextEra filed a complaint against Spain at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

[celedhring]

Or when they scrapped retroactively the incentive subsidies for solar energy, leading to Spain having less solar energy production than Germany or the UK, while being exponentially sunnier than both.

A retroactive removal of subsidies?  Does that mean they went after those who they had previously provided subsidies to and asked them to pay it back?

Is that even legal?

It was ruled legal, but it's been taken to the ECJ and other international arbitrage courts. Wouldn't be the first (or the second, or the third, or the fourth...) time that the ECJ overrules Spanish courts.

[Josquius]

A flock of sheep.
A herd of cows.
A gaggle of geese.
A murder of crows.
A farage of fascists.

[11B4V]

http://www.aol.com/article/2017/01/11/russia-considering-ban-on-cigarettes/21653064/?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000058&

good luck with that.

[Tonitrus]

The problem with dictatorships is that they think they can just dictate anything...and it will be so.

[Monoriu]

http://www.aol.com/article/2017/01/11/russia-considering-ban-on-cigarettes/21653064/?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000058&

good luck with that.

Could be an interesting experiment. 

[Josquius]

Ugh.
Horrible discovery about my family history.
It seems I'm a carrier.
All this time I had thought my grandmother had black hair but it seems she dyed it.
In reality she was...  A ginger.
If it should ever come time for me to have kids I shall have to engage in rigorous genetic testing. I'll have to carefully choose a partner who does not also carry the taint. If anyone will have me that is.  It was hard enough before.